A Day of Remembrance
by Goth Albino Angel
Summary: Based on Cinderfell's tumblr post. It's Family Day at Beacon, but the parents of some students don't show for various reasons. So, Taiyang takes it upon himself to be everyone's dad for the day.


**_I do not, in any way, shape or form, own RWBY._**

 ** _This comes from a post of Cinderfell's on tumblr. Basically, it's a Family Day at Beacon, but Weiss and Blake's parents don't show, so Taiyang adopts them as his and is their dad for the day. Also, Ruby, Yang and Taiyang visit Summer's grave. And JNPR has parents. So, here's this! I hope you all like it._**

 ** _Edit: Thank you to the guest reviewer that reminded me to mention that this was written_** _before_ _ **Volume Three came out. There was no mention of Blake's parents in the previous two Volumes, hence why they don't exist in this. Weiss' brother Whitley also didn't exist until Volume Four and therefore was not included. I had headcanoned Weiss as a triplet before the V3 release, so she had two sisters, Winter and Schimmer. And there were no mentions of Ren's parents at all until V3 Episode One, so I gave him a dad and made Nora an orphan. Thanks, guest!**_

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Ruby buzzed around the dorm room, rose petals in her wake as she waited impatiently for the flying ships to get here. Yang watched her sister bounce giddily around the room, smiling happily as her purple eyes kept shooting frequent glances to the window. Blake and Weiss were quiet, engrossed in their own activities and not paying their teammates any mind. As such, the room was divided between barely restrained excitement and tense forced calm.

What was the cause of such a rift in the emotions of the team members? Beacon Academy's Annual Alumnae Hunters Festival was that day. This wasn't much of a problem for any of the teenagers as only two of them knew an alumnae hunter of Beacon. However, the problem was that the Alumnae Hunters Festival also fell on Parents' Visitation Day. That meant that students all around the school would be bringing their parents to the school and spending time with them.

"Is it time yet, Yang?" Ruby asked, turning to gaze out the window eagerly.

"Why don't we go down and wait for the ships?" Yang suggested, looking around at all of her teammates. "That way we can all meet our parents together."

Blake and Weiss glanced up at their respective partners and shrugged. "You guys go ahead." Blake murmured, looking back down at her book. "I'll meet you down there when it's time for the ships to arrive."

"I agree with Blake." Weiss nodded, casting a furtive glance to the Faunus. "This way, Ruby can get a lot of her energy out. Why don't you two go ahead down and Blake and I will follow in a few moments?"

"Are you sure?" Ruby looked between her two more subdued teammates, silver eyes flicking from one to the other. She noticed the stiffness with which Weiss held herself and she wasn't blind to Blake's quivering bow, either.

"Yes, we'll be there." Blake murmured, her voice muffled by the pages she hid behind.

Yang stepped up and placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Alright, but if you two get lost, just call us. We're here if you need anything."

"Thank you, Yang." Weiss told her, flipping her hair over her shoulder and typing something out on her scroll. "We'll make sure to do so."

The two sisters turned uncertainly and made their way out the door, deciding to leave their partners to their tension for now. Once outside of the dorm room, the pair felt the excitement come back full force and both dashed off for the docks, ready to be first to greet their parent. Back in the room, Blake and Weiss remained silent, neither daring to look at each other in case they found eyes watching them back.

Weiss cast a glance to Blake's bow, scowling at it loathfully. She and Blake had been teammates for at least a semester and it pained her to know that Blake still felt uncomfortable taking her bow off around her even in the privacy of their own dorm room. Blake peeked over the top of her book and found Weiss sitting stiff as a board. She had come to read the signs in the heiress' body, as she had with all of her friends, and she knew that something had happened that was making Weiss upset.

The silence in the room grew louder with each passing moment, Weiss unsure about breaking it in case she set Blake off and Blake unwilling to break it as she had no qualms with letting others handle their problems. However, with the loud silence came a stifling tension that neither of the young women could escape. Blake's ears flattened beneath her bow as the pressure began crushing her. Finally sighing and placing her book down, the Faunus looked up as Weiss closed her scroll. The pair of them looked at each other for a long moment, neither knowing what to say, but both wanting to rid themselves of this heavy weight in their chests.

"Blake?" Weiss began slowly, attempting to tread carefully. "Would you like to talk about why we aren't both down waiting eagerly at the docks with Ruby and Yang?"

"No." Blake replied bluntly, her bow drooping further along with Weiss' face. "However, I think… as teammates, I think we should. It's… not good to keep things bottled up. I learned that last semester."

"As did I." the whitette agreed, setting her scroll aside and standing. Walking to Blake's bed, she stood in front of the Faunus and gestured to the space beside her awkwardly. Blake nodded and Weiss took a seat. "So, er, shall I go first?"

"You probably have it worse than me." Blake told her. "Go ahead."

Weiss took a deep breath. _She's your teammate._ The heiress told herself. _She won't judge you like others might. You don't have to be strong for her._ "My parents are… busy." She finally stated, attempting to act nonchalant about the ordeal. "They have to travel to Mistrel in order to oversee a deal with a company there. Both of them went for, what my father claims, security reasons." Bitterness had seeped into Weiss' voice, her eyes narrowing just slightly as she lowered her head. "My sisters Winter and Schimmer can't make it either because Winter is still studying in Atlas and Schimmer is attending a festival in Vacuo." It had hurt to receive the measly card her father had hurriedly scribbled and sent. It had arrived yesterday and it was very clear that it was a last minute thing. It was a _birthday_ card.

Blake reached out hesitantly and placed a hand on the whitette's shoulder, cringing slightly in the expectation that Weiss would snap at her for doing so. To her surprise, Weiss seemed to lose a small bit of her tenseness at the contact and the heiress shrugged. "It's nothing of concern." Weiss said thickly. "A Schnee is often busy. I should be used to it by now. It's not like they've ever made it before."

"Your sisters should have still at least been able to come." Blake huffed, her grip tightening on her friend's shoulder comfortingly. "To pass up seeing your sister for a festival is insensitive."

"It's the way it's always been." Weiss replied, turning to the brunette expectantly. "And what about you? What is the reason for you to be moping today? Are your parents not coming either?"

Blake's bow, which had lifted in indignation of Weiss' siblings not coming to visit, flattened once more. She glanced away, her heart hammering in her chest. She knew what she would see when she told Weiss of why there was no one coming to visit her. She knew what she would say and how she would react. Everyone always did. All of the other Faunus of the White Fang had replied the exact same way when Adam had taken her to her first protest.

"I don't have any parents." The brunette muttered, lowering her head like Weiss had done. "I've always had to grow up either alone or with someone from the White Fang to take care of me." Weiss flinched at the mention of the terrorist group and Blake attempted to correct herself. "Sorry, I didn't-."

"Blake, you explained that they weren't always bad people." Weiss told her, reaching out to grasp her hand, tensing momentarily, but relaxing when Blake made no move to take her hand away. "And I've already told you that I don't care about your history with them. I…"

There it was. The pitying look that came from every person she told this news to. Weiss looked sad for her and it made Blake's heart drop at making someone else feel sorry for her and her past. "It doesn't matter." She told Weiss, her voice thick with repressed emotion. "Besides, I was right. You do have it worse off than I do."

"How could not having parents compare to having them?" Weiss asked slowly.

The brunette gave her a slight smile. "It's better to never have known my parents than for you to know your parents and feel neglected by them all the time."

"Agree to disagree?" The heiress suggested tentatively.

Blake let out a slight chuckle and nodded, sighing and standing. Turning to gaze back down at Weiss, she held out her hand. "We should be getting down there." She murmured. "They'll be wondering where we are and you know how Ruby worries."

"Yang is likely to pull us aside for a talk later." Weiss groaned, taking Blake's hand and standing, smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress as she did. "We had best hurry."

Blake nodded and made to turn, but Weiss stopped her momentarily. The Faunus watched her friend shift uncomfortably for a moment. Coughing awkwardly, Weiss looked up at her teammate and said, "Thank you, by the way. For allowing me to talk."

"Weiss, it was no problem at all." Blake told her.

Weiss shook her head and added, "And for talking to me. I know things have been strained between us, but… it means a lot to me that you talked to me about this."

"Thank you as well, then Weiss." The ninja murmured softly. "For letting me talk, too."

Finished with the awkward thanks, the pair turned and made their way out to the docks to await the ships flying up to Beacon Cliff. Moving quickly through the crowd, Blake made sure not to let Weiss get swept away as she searched for her missing teammates. Spotting rose petals near the front of the crowd, Blake grabbed Weiss' arm and guided her through the crowd. Yang was first to notice them as Ruby was bouncing place to try seeing where the ship was.

"Hey, you two!" the blonde called, walking to them while Ruby continued her hyperactive behavior. Coming to a stop in front of Weiss, Yang eyes softened as she glanced between the two of them. "Is everything okay?" she asked softly, purple eyes showing intense worry for her teammates. She may joke around a lot, but she was truly worried about the emotional state of the monochromatic pair. She hated seeing any of her friends upset.

Blake and Weiss shared a glance and Weiss responded. "Everything is better now than it was before, Yang." She told the brawler, keeping her voice low. "There were just some things we needed to talk about."

"Well, I'm glad you're better." Yang beamed at the pair of them, placing an encouraging hand on Blake's shoulder. "Remember, Ruby and I are also here if you need to talk, but I'm happy that you two are finally getting along."

Before anything else could be said on the matter, a shrill squeal sliced through the air and the trio turned to see Ruby pointing to the landing pad. Glancing over, Yang gasped with excitement to see the ships arriving. Dragging Weiss and Blake over to stand beside Ruby, the brawler joined her sister in excited squealing as they waited for the passengers to come out and make their way over. The first ship held no sign of Ruby and Yang's father, neither did the second.

However, the first person out of the third ship must have been it because Ruby leaped into the air, rose petals filling the place around her as she signaled to the figure. Blake and Weiss watched their partners in amusement as they began signaling frantically to the large man walking toward them. As he drew closer, Blake and Weiss found more and more details popping up on him.

He was a tall, blonde man, easily shadowing even Yang. Like all hunters, he was of a muscular build, his thick arms rippling with muscle and completely visible thanks to his dark blue muscle shirt. Deep violet cargo pants and chunky black combat boots adorned his lower half, reminding Blake of the sisters' penchant for the flat soles as opposed to the heels she and Weiss wore. Over one shoulder, the man had thrown a bright yellow windbreaker and a pair of aviators similar to Yang's were atop his head. When he was only a few feet away, Weiss noticed how… _warm_ his bright aquamarine eyes looked and Blake relaxed slightly at the beaming smile he was sending in the direction of his daughters.

Ruby let out a whoop of joy and shot forward in a flurry of red, leaping up to embrace her father excitedly. Yang guided Blake and Weiss forward with a chuckle as the hulking figure easily caught Ruby and spun her around with a laugh. Weiss stared up at this… _giant_ a bit tensely, not used to having quite _this many_ tall people around her. Blake moved to stand beside Weiss as Yang introduced the two of them.

"Blake, Weiss, this is our dad, Taiyang. Dad, these are our team members, Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee." Taiyang gently set Ruby down and turned to the other two members of Team RWBY curiously. Walking forward, he stood before the two young women and surveyed them carefully. Blake felt her bow quiver at the deep scrutiny while Weiss maintained her normal composure as she was used to such displays. However, both of them were shocked when Taiyang bent down and scooped both of them up in his arms, bringing them in close for a quick hug.

Blake let out a huff of surprise while Weiss gasped in shock, neither being used to quite so much affection, even from Ruby and Yang. When Taiyang let go, both of them just stood where they were, dazed at the affectionate display. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you both." Taiyang told them, his deep voice surrounding them gently. "You've been taking such good care of my two powerhouses while they've been away from home."

"It's really no big deal." Blake murmured, gazing up at the large man curiously. "It's relatively easy to keep Yang on target."

"Ruby as well once you learn how to bake." Weiss added, regaining her composure once her shock wore off. "It was no trouble at all; they're friends."

"Thank you for being their friends." Taiyang chuckled. "So, where are your parents? Two fine young ladies such as yourselves must have had amazing guardians."

Almost instantly, Weiss' back stiffened, her entire posture going tense. Blake simply fought to keep her ears from flattening, her bow quivering slightly. The sudden change in atmosphere did not escape Taiyang and his expression fell. Placing a hand on each of their shoulders, he knelt so that he was level with them. Blake and Weiss started in shock as somber eyes stared into their own.

"You don't have to tell me about it." Taiyang said softly. "However, I think it unnecessary that the pair of you don't have _someone_ you can call a parent for the day." Standing, the blonde man gave them a smile reminiscent of Yang when she had an idea that wasn't crazy. "Therefore, how about I be your dad for the day?"

Blake's bow, which had been close to drooping, suddenly perked up eagerly. She had never had a dad before. The closest she had ever gotten had been Adam. The thought of someone treating her like their child was foreign to her and one she desperately wanted to entertain. Likewise, Weiss had never had a parent—or family member, for that matter—that wasn't too busy to make time for her. This was a chance to know what it was like to have someone actually care about her as a family member instead of just an heir or competition for a metaphorical throne.

"That's a _great_ idea!" Ruby cheered, bouncing over to them. She had noticed how quiet her friends had gotten at the mention of parents and it thrilled her that her father had come up with such a wonderful solution.

"Good thinking, Dad!" Yang agreed, placing a hand on Weiss' shoulder with a grin. "Let's head to the festival! There are bound to be a ton of other alumnae coming today."

Taiyang grabbed up Ruby and lifted her onto one of his shoulders. Holding out a hand to Weiss, he gave her an encouraging smile. The whitette slowly took his hand and was lifted onto his other shoulder. With an arm thrown around Yang and Blake's shoulders, the large man headed in the direction of the festival. Ruby pointed out the various different attractions that had been set up, games that were harder than at a normal carnival due to all of the people who were specifically trained to hit targets and strategize. These kinds of games, due to Beacon being a school for combat, were a means of continuing to train the students that had come and keep the alumnae on their toes while still allowing everyone to have fun.

As the quintet moved throughout the crowd, other students stared at them in wonder and amusement, some of the more outspoken students commenting to their friends about Taiyang's size. Blake felt her nerves beginning to get to her with all of the eyes on her, but a brief squeeze around the shoulders from Taiyang made her relax a bit. As it were, the blonde man was listening to Ruby chatter on about all of the interesting new weapons she had experienced thus far while Weiss kept a tight hold on her hood to keep her from racing off.

"Look!" Ruby suddenly exclaimed, pointing to one of the games nearby. "There's team JNPR!"

"And CFVY's over there." Blake piped up, waving to Velvet, who was standing near a woman with long black ears similar to Velvet's.

"Blake, why don't you go say hello to your friends?" Taiyang suggested, loosening his arm slightly. "I'll go meet this team JNPR and come back to meet your group."

"Thanks." Blake ducked her head from under his arm and headed off, nodding to Velvet.

"How are you today, Blake?" Velvet asked, taking the ninja's hands in her own. "I know it's still hard for you…"

"It's okay." Blake smiled at her, her bow flicking slightly. "Yang's dad… he said he would be Weiss' and my parent for the day."

"Really?" Brown rabbit ears perked up excitedly at this news. "That's wonderful! You shouldn't have to spend today alone."

"Velvet?" A soft, lilted voice called, making both huntresses-in-training turn to the brown-haired woman with black rabbit ears. "Who is your friend? She smells of… cats."

Ruby hopped from her father's shoulder, landing beside Jaune as Nora continued shooting the Grimm ducks on the rotating platform, ducking each time one of them threw a ball at her. "Hey Jaune!" she chirped, bouncing to him.

"Hey, Ruby!" Jaune chuckled, gulping slightly as he looked up at the hulking man before him. "This is your, er, dad, Weiss?"

"That's right!" Taiyang laughed, reaching his free hand up to pat Weiss' shoulder. "Yang's, Ruby's and Blake's, too."

"Oh." Jaune let out a breath of relief. "That's pretty cool."

"Where's your family, Jaune?" Ruby asked as Weiss neatly leaped down and walked over to where Pyrrha was controlling the metal balls that missed Nora.

"My sisters all went on a tour of the school." Jaune replied, pointing to where a group was heading in the direction of the school proper. "A few of them wanted to come here, but working and other things got in the way. So, I thought it would be good to at least invite them to see the school. They love this place even more than I did as a kid."

"What about your parents, Pyrrha?" Weiss asked, tentative to broach the subject.

"My mother is talking with Professor Goodwitch." Pyrrha pointed off to the side where a woman with shining scarlet hair identical to her own and a pair of deep blue eyes was speaking idly with Professor Goodwitch and a few other parents, including one man that bore a startling resemblance to Ren. "They've been old friends for quite some time, so they catch up with each other every time this festival comes around."

"The same with my father." Ren added, setting down another few lien for Nora to continue her game. "He usually spends a bit of time with the teachers during the festival before spending the rest with Nora and me."

"Yeah!" Nora piped in. "He's the best dad ever! He even took me in when I lost my parents."

Weiss cringed imperceptibly and Pyrrha sent her a soft smile. She knew from experience that Weiss' father wasn't dead, so this must have been something else. As it was the whitette's business, she wouldn't press for details, but still patted her shoulder comfortingly. Vibrant green eyes glanced up at a call and found Blake coming closer with Team CFVY close by.

"Hello, Velvet." Pyrrha greeted, nodding to Velvet's mother. "Coco, Fox, Yatsuhashi. It's wonderful to see you all today. Are your parents coming?"

"Mine were… busy." Coco muttered, folding her arms with a neutral expression. Weiss shot her a sympathetic look and a knowing smile. Coco returned it with a shake of her head and a pat to Weiss'.

"My parents went on a tour of the school." Fox stated softly, white eyes angling in Pyrrha's rough direction. "They wish to see how it has changed since the last time they were here."

"This is my father." Yatsuhashi told them, pointing to the man slightly behind him who was only a few inches taller than himself with white hair. "He came mostly for the festival, but is happy for the chance to see me."

"And this is my mum." Velvet finished, motioning to her mother who was still eyeing Blake curiously.

"This is Weiss, Yang, Ruby and Blake's dad." Pyrrha told them, motioning to Taiyang, who was now having a competition with Nora to see who could get the most ducks in the shortest amount of time.

"All of them?" Coco asked curiously, hazel eyes sparked with interest behind her sunglasses.

"And yours." Taiyang stated firmly, standing as Nora claimed victory.

"What?" Coco glanced to her team in confusion.

"If you don't have parents for the day, then I'll be your dad." The large man explained, holding his hand out. Coco shook it with a smile, Velvet beaming at her.

"That's quite kind of you." Velvet's mother told him, black ears flicking.

"No one should be without parents on a day as special as this one." Taiyang told her with a smile.

"I agree." The dark brunette, pulled her daughter into a hug. "Why don't we all spend the day together? There are a lot of interesting games to play."

"That's a great idea!" Ruby and Velvet exclaimed, the former throwing her hands up in the air along with Nora to cheer.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Taiyang chuckled, leaning down to lift Nora and Ruby onto his shoulders. Coco laughed and allowed Yang to pull her close as Blake did the same with Velvet, Pyrrha and Jaune walking in front of them as Ren trailed a little behind with Yatsuhashi to be sure Nora and Ruby didn't fall. "Anyone have any suggestions?" Taiyang asked, glancing down to the two rabbit-Faunus and Fox. "We'll go to the one that's closest and work our way to everyone's favorite."

The majority of the day was spent making their way along the paths formed by the games and concession stands. At one point, Blake joined Velvet and her mother on a trampoline with some other Faunus, all of them showing off tricks and flips to one another. Ruby and Yang fist-bumped at hearing Blake laugh along with the other teens and children on the trampoline, thrilled that their teammate was having fun as opposed to her attitude earlier that morning. There was a point at which Team CRDL appeared, surrounding Velvet and blocking the others around her. Blake immediately reached for Gambol Shroud as Coco prepared to use her bag as a bludgeon. However, both Velvet's mother and Taiyang stepped in to take care of the issue. While Taiyang lifted Sky, Russel and Dove by the back of their shirts and asked why they were messing with his daughter, Velvet's mother tugged on Cardin's ears, eliciting shouts of pain. By the end of the encounter, the four boys were all disgruntled and discouraged, sulking off to another corner of the festival.

Ruby even managed to convince Weiss to play some of the games with them, the whitette showing off her aiming prowess with some of the dart games, she and Pyrrha winning stuffed animals for their teammates. Ruby squealed at a large stuffed beowolf and Nora tossed her stuffed Ursa in the air happily while Blake and Ren accepted their Grimm paintings and Yang cheered at the cartridge of Dust Weiss had scored completely by accident. Of course, when it came to the whack-a-mole, Professor Goodwitch needed to repair the machine a few times as Yang, Yatsuhashi, Taiyang, Nora and Jaune ended up destroying it a few times to try winning the large Nevermore plushie.

At the end of the festival, the group bid Velvet's mother and Yatsuhashi's father goodbye, Team CFVY heading back to the dormitories to get some studying done. Team JNPR bid them farewell a little while after, Jaune explaining that he had a new training technique he wanted to try out, Pyrrha's mother and Ren's father having left an hour or two beforehand. Ruby and Yang watched them go as Taiyang spoke to Blake and Weiss about how Beacon had been when he had attended. Yang placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder and turned to their father, clearing her throat.

Taiyang glanced up at the solemn expressions of his daughters and his eyes saddened. Weiss and Blake shared a glance, wondering if they were missing something. Taiyang straightened and turned a slightly strained smile on the monochromatic pair. "There's a, ah, family tradition that we always hold every time Parents' Visitation Day came around. You two are welcome to join us, if you want."

Blake took note of the sad expressions on her teammates' faces and responded, "We'll come along, for emotional support."

"We want to be there for our teammates." Weiss added, her gaze flicking to Ruby and then Yang.

Taiyang smiled down at them and began leading the entire group in the direction of Beacon Cliff. "We've got enough sunlight left that there shouldn't be too much hindrance getting there. We'll have to make a stop at the house on the way."

"Where are we going?" Weiss asked hesitantly, glancing to her partner.

"We're heading to a small island off the coast of Vale." Yang explained, pulling Ruby closer as the red-cloaked girl remained silent. "Patch, it's where we grew up."

There was silence after that as the group boarded an airship and took off. They arrived at their destination within an hour, all of them descending from the ship and following Taiyang at a brisk pace through the small town. Weiss and Blake took in their surroundings in slight intrigue, getting to see a little of the place where their teammates grew up. Coming to a regular-sized one-story house, Taiyang had the quartet wait outside while he went in. Blake instantly jumped at the sudden sound of barking, her ears flattening unhappily as it quieted and Taiyang returned with a bouquet of white roses and a corgi on his heels.

"Blake, Weiss, this is Zwei." The tall man told them, the corgi smiling up at them before lowering his head to the ground. "Does everyone have their weapons fully loaded?" When the girls responded in the affirmative, he nodded. "The Grimm in the forest aren't matured very far, many of them even lacking masks. For that reason, I'm going to let you four deal with our encounters, but don't be afraid to call me for help, alright?" Once more getting agreement, Taiyang set off, leading the four young women into the forest with Zwei bringing up the rear as a protection against attacks from behind.

All four huntresses-in-training were on high alert as they made their way through the woods, Ruby and Yang pushing their emotions aside to make sure they were ready to jump into action with their friends if the need arose. Creatures growled and scurried around them, but none jumped out at the group, most likely sensing the danger and steering clear. At last, the group came to an open area in the woods, similar to the cliff at Beacon. In front of them was a headstone with an inscription on it. Blake and Weiss suddenly understood their teammates' sadness upon finding the headstone there.

The monochromatic pair hung back as the trio strode forward, Zwei right behind them with the bouquet in his mouth. Taiyang led them forward to the grave, stopping a foot short of the headstone and gazing down at it sadly. Ruby pressed into Yang's side, sniffling softly as she gazed at her mother's headstone, tears streaming down her cheeks. Yang squeezed Ruby tight to her, knowing her little sister needed a shoulder to cry on just as much as she did. Both turned to their father and Taiyang moved behind them, wrapping his large arms around both of his girls.

Ruby hiccupped slightly as she watched Zwei place the flowers over the grave, the little corgi's tail drooping as he sat beside them and placed his head on his paws forlornly. Ruby understood his pain, if only a little. They had both still been young when her mother had been taken away. He had only been born a few days prior to the attack. But Ruby remembered her, if vaguely and the memories still hurt.

She was hardly like this whenever she came alone. Whenever it was just the two of them, Ruby would sit and talk for a while, telling her mother everything that had happened since the last time she visited. However, with her family, it was hard not to feel their pain as well as her own. The emotions swirling around them intensified her own grief at the loss of her mother and allowed her to break down with them nearby.

The group stayed like that for several minutes, the four mourning family members simply standing around the headstone and allowing their lost link to know how much they missed her, while Blake and Weiss waited patiently, silently giving their own strength to the family. Time passed, marked only by the movement of the sun and the increased activity of the creatures around them. Once or twice, Blake turned to unleash her sword on the Grimm that dared try to interrupt her adoptive family, receiving a thankful smile from Yang as the blonde allowed herself to relax slightly, knowing her partner could take care of herself. Weiss even joined Blake in stopping anything from getting to the grieving family, knowing that, even though she possibly had it worse than Blake, Ruby and Yang had it worse than either of them. They had actually known and cared about their mother, only to have her taken from them.

As the last of the sun's rays began disappearing, Taiyang backed away a step, holding Ruby to make sure she didn't fall. The cloaked girl nodded to him and brushed away her tears, turning to her teammates, who had just finished defeating yet another beowolf set on disturbing them. She smiled at them gratefully and the group began their trek back through the forest, stopping at the house to drop Zwei off, before making their way to the airships. The trip back to Beacon was spent in silence, all of the teens having things on their minds while Taiyang simply allowed himself to send all of the happy memories he'd had of Summer out into the expanse of the universe, using them to cheer himself up. Landing on Beacon Cliff, the huntresses-in-training exited and allowed their father to walk them to the entrance of the dormitories.

Stopping his daughters at the doors, Taiyang pulled all of them into a hug. Ruby felt her father comforting all of them, even though she knew he was hit the hardest by the loss. Yang tried to convey her own comfort back, allowing the channel to be opened both ways so they could hold each other up and helped them all be strong. Weiss relished in the first real _warm_ hug she could ever remember having, feeling tears of happiness prick her eyes at the thought that someone who barely even knew her cared about her. Blake allowed her tears to fall, never having had a parent to hug before; her own emotions were swirling inside of her, but for the first time since she was a little girl, she actually felt accepted among a group of people, even Weiss, despite the tenacity of their growing friendship.

For a few minutes, the RWBY girls just let their dad hug them and wash away all the troubles around them. When the quartet backed away—Ruby and Blake wiping their eyes as they did—Taiyang gave them a large grin and patted each of them on the head. "I'm proud of all of you." He said, turning to head back to the airships as they began their final departure for the day. "Blake, Weiss, you're both welcome to stay for the summer."

* * *

 **I actually needed to listen to** Mirror Mirror, Red Like Roses **and** Red Like Roses part II **in order to get through writing some of this. I also made all pairing hints dubious because, no matter what I ship, shipping was not part of the original post and I would therefore not add it here. I hope you all liked it!**


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